Seattle daily post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, W.T. [Wash.]) 1881-1888, 1887-02-13


Hfnery VII dlrum she n&fentaon q
lnturs rsneszaions % Cesnt Helmuih
Kari Bernhard Won Heisks e one q
shs most siFikina and exissosdlnary
eharneseFs % ths ninssssnfb esni1Ey.
Grsss, silent, unbendzne. be y naa
sham even he contemporaries esnppi
understand. To postsEisy be vii q "a
inexplisabis pazzia.
AZ NE aes a. siehsy-sr-sn So -
wish sven the noes active men are
wiling 70 lag down the tEi6inR weighs
Whieh they eail TIE burden Of life ana
70 wslooms he rest % tie Grsgs-snis
solder appears IN ne German ksish-
stag and makes there > speseh which =
beard, Bos b. TIE RsiehssaR alone. bui
b. he euiiEs sorId. He uttsrs voEds
which are Iarasly interpreted n every
capital Of Kuropa a. msaninR peaee 90
var. And mere than fbiss be is aoiu-
ally regarded By bis eouniIymsn -
thsas sword and their shisld IN the car
which seeEns 70 thFsasen EaEope. Should
the elOud buFsi. The szniss Of Germsny
yin Be entrusted 70 RsnsEaI Of fear
score and ssx--a thing unprecedented
In history.
Won MeIiks b the son Of Danish
General, and be rsosivsd bic military
education from the Danish Govern
msnt, aaalnst which be frat led the
armies Of Prnssis-a peoE return, one
wouid think. fss his s6ueaaioa. Bat
voa Moltks, whatever bis parsniaRs and
sdneaiion mag hsvs been. is thorsaahly
and entirely Prussiaa and has never
pretended 10 Be aneht siss. He entered
the PrussiAn service In 1922 and sfteI
zen years Of ardusuB study and labor
was admitted 70 tbs general staa. In
1855 be vent 10 Conssantinoplss and
entering the Tuskish service, sonfinued
IN q us.tiI the death Of the Sultan Mali
moud IL, in 1889. whsn be returned q
Berlin and was again employed By Che
Pruasian Government on staG service
| In 1858 be became chief Of The genera
staa Of the army. He has made and
executed The plans for three great cam.
paiens, each Of which vas successful n
every detail. The first Vas against
/ Denmark In 1864, the second againa'
Austria In 1865, and the third agAinsl
France 10 1870.
Never In history have there been cam
paians in which She plans Of the com.
mander have been more exactly carried
out than In the three great campsieDi
directed by Won Moltke. That against
France was especially perfect. Every
movement vas made precisely as Won
Moltks had determined that II shoald
be made. Indeed, u 10 said that the
plan Of this campaign was formed years
before Il actually took place, and that
voa Moltks had simply 70 fOllov the
plans which he had laid down, a. q
student would follow g mathsmatieal
rule. Every Operations had been planned
and every plan vas carried out to she
letter.
Ven Moltke's genius. II 1t may be
called genius. Ia as different from thai
Of Napoleon or Of any other commander
as light 10 different from darkness. Ma.
polcon's movements we're governed By
txpsdisnoy. He was quick to see the
important point and 10 seizs Il; bis in
tuition told him the vulnerable point in
the eaemy's line and be promptly
hurled his troops against IL. In Won
Moltke's operations, on the other hand
the element of expedieDoy does not ap
pear. They are the result Of cool, de-
libsEsts calculation. They simply fol
low rules laid down, perhaps. years be
fore. The problem is merely TO 50 ar
range The forces that the enemy will b
outnumbeEed at the proper time and
place.
With Won Moltke, war is reduced q
an exact soienee. To him the German
army is q mere machine. His duty Is Il
calculate how great the resistance at |
certain poini will be and how powerfu
BLOW must be stEuok 10 overcome tina
resistance. II 10 q problem In whicl
men. horses and cannon figure insteas
Of mathematical signs, and Il is voTksS
out precisely as q problem in ealealu
would be worked. Won Moltks ha
never yet failed 10 solve the problem
before him correctly. His machine ha
Invariably moved a. u IL were clock
work. The heavy battAlions have eve
been iust whore they should be and q
the proper tune, and resistance ha
always been overcome precisely ~ Voi
Molske intended ID should be. He
not afraid Of failure. for he leaves n
weak point in bis line. His plans con
template only advance and aggression
Won Moltks may be said 70 Be ii
founder Of 9 new school Of GeneralshiE
lie has reduced var 10 . problem 4
mathematics, and until be ls opposed B
greater mathematician than himself
II 4